Packers Week in Review: A Humbling Night at Lambeau, and the NFL Lands in Rio

One game this week, and it was a bad one. But it was also the week the NFL finally played in Rio de Janeiro — so there’s something to celebrate at the bottom of this post even if the top of it is grim. Let’s get the hard part over with.

35-14: “A Humbling Night”

The Falcons came to Lambeau on Thursday at 0-2, having scored 16 points all season. They left with 35 points and 498 yards.

Green Bay led 7-0. Atlanta then scored 27 straight. Michael Penix Jr. was back at quarterback for the Falcons and Bijan Robinson ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta outrushed Green Bay 242 to 17.

The result ended the Packers’ 13-year winning streak in home openers, and there were audible boos at Lambeau.

LaFleur’s summary was the shortest and most accurate: “Well, that was a humbling night.”

The Run Defense, and Then the Run Game

Two weeks ago this defense looked like one of the better units in football. Then it met an elite back and couldn’t set an edge.

Cornerback Brandon Cisse put it plainly: it’s “hard to keep a guy like that contained when we’re not setting good edges.” Atlanta ran outside zone and punished the over-pursuit all night, and the missed tackles piled up. Players used the words “embarrassing” and “unacceptable” afterward.

The other half of the problem is just as bad. Green Bay ran the ball nine times for 17 yards. Nine carries. Jordan Love dropped back to pass 54 times, because there was no other option. A team with no running game and two offensive line starters out becomes completely one-dimensional, and Atlanta knew it by the second quarter.

The running back room is still Lloyd, Brooks and Kaleb Johnson while Josh Jacobs remains on the commissioner’s exempt list. That’s not working.

They Fixed the Penalties. They Lost by 21 Anyway.

Worth noting, because we spent all of last week on it: the penalty problem got fixed. After leading the NFL with 26 accepted penalties for 231 yards through two weeks, Green Bay committed six for 45 yards against Atlanta. Atlanta had six for 83.

And they lost by three touchdowns. Sometimes you solve the thing everyone is shouting about and discover it wasn’t the thing.

🇧🇷 The NFL Came to Rio — and It Was a Classic

Now the good news, and for this community it’s the real headline of the week.

On Sunday the NFL played its first regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro, at the Maracanã, and the Ravens beat the Cowboys 34-31.

It came down to the final seconds. Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers for 27 yards and had the presence of mind to call timeout with one second left, which set up Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal to win it. A seven-second drive to decide an NFL game in the Maracanã — you couldn’t script it better for a debut.

ESPN reported an announced crowd of 72,792. And the number that actually matters for the future of the sport here: 24.9 million viewers on CBS, making it the most-watched international game in NFL history.

Two Brazilian games in two seasons, a Rio debut that delivered a thriller, and a record audience. The league is not treating this market as a novelty anymore, and games in Brazil are now a fixture rather than an experiment. That’s good for every one of us.

Injury and Roster Notes

Jayden Reed. Still no timeline. LaFleur had no update as of Monday, evaluations are ongoing, and reporting suggests a season-ending outcome remains in play with a move to injured reserve looking likely. We’ll keep saying it plainly: nobody knows yet, and the only thing that matters is that he’s okay.

Micah Parsons. He will not practice this week either. The Packers still haven’t opened his 21-day window, LaFleur says there have been no setbacks, and Parsons has now passed the nine-month mark since surgery. He’s been eligible to practice since Week 2 and Green Bay is in no hurry — which, given the season they’re having, is probably the right call.

Next Up: At Tampa Bay

Sunday, Oct. 4 — 12:00 p.m. CT / 2 p.m. Brasília time, at Raymond James Stadium.

Green Bay is 1-2, Tampa Bay is 0-3, and the Packers are favored. Baker Mayfield dislocated his right thumb in Week 3 and may miss it, which would put rookie Jalon Daniels in line for his first NFL start.

It’s a get-right game on paper. So was Thursday.

Go Pack Go. 💛💚

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